The death of a beloved lion named Cecil, at the hands of an American hunter in Zimbabwe, struck a nerve around the globe. The debate about the ethics of that hunt still provokes strong emotions. On Wednesday, October 7th, MSNBC will focus on another side of the industry, the legal side. Blood Lions, a one hour documentary, takes viewers inside the seldom seen world of the “canned hunting” industry in South Africa.
Also known as captive bred lion hunting, canned hunts allow hunters to select their lion ahead of time and complete a hunt in a matter of just three days. Canned hunts provide a cheaper, faster, and a surefire way of hunting predatory animals, compared to wild lion hunts which may last weeks with a much lower probability of success. Americans are largely fueling the industry, with 62% of the trophies being imported into the United States, according to Humane Society International.
The documentary includes the perspective of both proponents of this practice who say that hunting helps preserve Africa’s lion population and conservationists who are quick to dispute that claim.
So I have been seeing advertisements for this show popping up on MSNBC quite regularly lately, and it never ceases to anger me when I do.
I am not the biggest fan of trophy hunting in the first place, but the idea of raising these magnificent animals in a cage for their entire lives simply to allow some fat asshole murder them in an enclosure where they cannot escape, so that he can finally feel like a man, just makes me want to vomit.
I understand the need to hunt for food, but I will NEVER understand the desire to kill something just to kill it. And to kill a tame animal raised by humans is even more revolting.
In my opinion THIS is the only manner in which people and lions should interact.
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